Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV)

Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) is a public-private partnership led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and coordinated by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) to develop a research strategy for prioritizing and speeding development of the most promising COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

ACTIV brings together NIH with its sibling agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); other government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); the European Medicines Agency (EMA); and representatives from academia, philanthropic organizations and biopharmaceutical companies.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis that has been met with a swift and extraordinary response. The research community is sifting through more than 100 potential preventives and treatments. However, because so many studies are recruiting patients, many of those studies could fail to enroll enough participants to answer their research questions. In addition, lack of coordination could make interpretation and comparison of the results difficult.

With limited resources, there is a need to coordinate and streamline processes to make the best use of biomedical research resources and testing of preclinical compounds. Also, there is a need to prioritize the most promising vaccine candidates and move them into clinical trials in a way that is safe and efficient.

Leadership Organizations

Government

Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Department of Defense
Department of Veterans Affairs
European Medicines Agency
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Not-for-Profit

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
RTI International